Where do our Rights come from?

Elected officials Freedom of Speech Right to own land Vote Jury Trials Under the British Crown we enjoyed these Rights: Elected officials Freedom of Speech Right to own land Vote Jury Trials What went wrong?

The French and Indian War 1754 – 1760 Cost a huge amount of money to protect the British Colonies

The reaction to the Stamp Act (1765) was not based on economics The reaction to the Stamp Act (1765) was not based on economics!!! The tax was fair and meager. Or even taxation without representation. They could have had representation!!! But would always be out voted The Most important was the cultural. The act stirred up resentment and created interest in the common man about The influence of the Enlightenment and Natural Law. The rights of men and the role of government.

Colonial reaction to the stamp act was fierce Colonial reaction to the stamp act was fierce. Boycotts, protest and here pouring scalding tea down the throat of a tax collector or tar and feathering. (Notice in each the noose!!)

“We have an old Mother who peevish is grown “We have an old Mother who peevish is grown. She snubs us like children that scarce walk alone. She forgets that we’re grown with sense of our own. If we don’t obey orders, whatever the case. She frowns and she chides and loses all patience. And sometimes she hits us a slap in the face. Her orders are so, we often suspect, That age has impaired her of sound intellect: But still, an old Mother should have due respect...” Untitled poem by Benjamin Franklin

When Franklin returned to America, due to his “support” for the Stamp Act, people were calling for his “head.” He went back to England and negotiated a repeal.

Franklin’s good name was restored

King George 3rd declares the Declaratory Act The Crown can impose any act on the colonies. Leading to the Townsend Act

1770 Boston Massacre…. Not really Is this picture fact or fiction? Yankee propaganda. Created by Paul Revere to stir up anti British sentiment and also created it to sell to news papers.

Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty: Boston Tea Party 1773 Cause Reaction from the Tea Act which required Colonists to get tea from the East India Co. exclusively. Result (Effect) The Intolerable Acts, Closing the Port of Boston Suspending state legislators etc. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty: Symbolic for breaking cultural ties with England (tea) ( a new identity forming) and moral symbolism of the “noble savage” the Mohawk Indian.

1775 Lexington/Concord British Soldiers move to find stolen cannons 1775 Lexington/Concord British Soldiers move to find stolen cannons. Fighting breaks out. “Shot Heard Round the World.”

Built directly on John Locke’s ideas of Natural Law: Drafter of the Declaration of Independence Secretary of State 3rd President Founder of the University of Virginia Author of the Virginia Statute of Religious Rights Inventor Planter Slave owner Thomas Jefferson Built directly on John Locke’s ideas of Natural Law: * All men are created equal * Born with rights from a creator * Government’s role is to protect individual rights * Governments are created by men with the consent (permission) of the governed * When a government does not protect rights over a long period of time it is to be abolished

The draft of the Declaration was revised first by Adams and Franklin, and then by the full committee. A total of 47 alterations, including the insertion of three complete paragraphs, were made to the text before it was presented to Congress on June 28. After voting for independence on July 2, Congress continued to refine the document, making 39 additional revisions to the committee draft before its final adoption on the morning of July 4. Most famous edit “sacred” to “self evident”